A dedicated internet and gaming addiction recovery program has opened shop in Fall City, Washington, which claims to be the first of its kind in the US.
The center, called reStart, is a 45-day anti-internet detox program located at the soothingly-named rural Heavensfield Retreat Center located some 20 minutes away from …

So,

how do you know if you're addicted? I've not robbed a granny to maintain my habit, but I do have broadband at home and the office, and the 'net has become my secondary nature - for research, fun and shopping. I don't do online gaming, am on Facebook (been to the site twice this last couple of months), don't Twitter, don't internet thru my phone.

Whilst round at friends houses I don't whip out my laptop and logon to their wireless (unless for a pressing reason - waiting for email, win on Ebay, comment on El Reg, etc), but... when the 'net goes down, I do feel a sense of loss.

But maybe there is a silver lining, as the 'net gets twisted and bent into a global shopping mecca, with constant tracking and spying and attempts at cashifying, something smaller and more cliquey will appear that I can get into, where the acquisition of easy money isn't the driving force.

Sorry, don't know what that's got to do with internet addiction, but what the hey...

A higher power...

...So does this mean a "higher power" in the traditional sense of the leader having sex with underage girls or a "higher power" where the leader takes your cash whilst having orgies with members of your own family, as so many "healing" centres have done in the past.

Actually, exactly which higher power is important

Narconon, for instance, has now widely been demonstrated to be a recruiting front for Scientology. Anyone know which deity these guys are turning to? Any 'addict' is a vulnerable person if you think about it, they've already proved they have a $15,000 problem.

Am I the only one......

Icanhaztreatment?

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For example, a typical monday involves waking up at 7:00AM, breakfast, exercise, chores, a "discovery quest," a follow-through session, lunch at noon, a "life quest," vocational skills, evening chores, dinner, a "reflection group," a "mindfulness" session, personal time, and lights out at 10:30PM.

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Shit - so even if you get OUT of WoW you STILL have to level grind to break the addiction - do you get let out of the "clinic" when you reach level 70? Or does that just give you access to bigger, scarier clinics?

A higher power?

...[I]t's (not) even funny.

This is so wrong on so many levels it's (not) even funny. For the price of this place, speaking as an economist, you can certainly afford your addiction and that's even tossing in a T1/T3 connection or a ten or so wireless broadband modems so you are never without!

Next off, recent research into the actual nuerochemical reactions/interactions in the human brain finds that it is rewarding us when we solve a particular problem, such as a search or a puzzle, so addiction to the reward (endorphins) should come as no surprise. You get similar rewards from running (runner's high), overeating (natch), even chocalate. Should the APA persue this and incorporate 'internet addiction' into the DSM, there are more than a few other behaviors that would require incorporation as well (see prev. sentence). And you thought insurance costs were bad now? Still, a vaction from the 'net for an extended period with natural adventures tossed in at no cost? I'll take it.

Back to the lighter side: I think they call it 'ReStart' to imply that you get to restart your life. Actually, having serious experience with various programs, I think ReStart is entirely appropriate. 'Cause that's what the 'participant' will do as soon as they get near a 'net connection!!! I would.

@Andy

Internet Addiction Doesn't Exist

Just like the sentence near the end says, real psychiatrists agree that, even with people who do get obsessive about it, Internet "addiction" is not a true addiction and is usually only a manifestation of other existing disorder(s). That implies that places like this one are run by quacks looking for people to fleece. In my opinion, this amounts to a fraud.

Hey man

read about this on the net, man. Sounds awful. For less than a tenth the price, I can give you a week 24/7 high speed broadband and all the red bull you can drink and all the gnutella you can eat. Way to go. Addiction is all in your mind, man

Sad.

@ dunncha:

Don't be so quick to judge, have you seen Project Gutenberg and Archive.org, it's practically the stuff of ST:TNG come to life!

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In short, use the power of the net wisely; read, write, study, learn, create, share important knowledge with others and ideas and always strive to better understand the technologies that makes this all possible.

Higher Power

At first I thought they meant some kind of sky-fairy. Then I realised that would prevent atheists from shedding their internet dependency and that can't be right. Surely it would be better to also cure people of their addiction to the tale of whatever sky-fairy they believe in?

After much deliberation, I have come to the conclusion that a higher power really means "x to the power (n+1)" rather than just "x to the power n".